We just released version 1.0 of Wx Remote, a set of tools to start, stop and view your tasks running on other computers.
Early adopters receive a 25% Discount (valid until July 1st) so why not give it a try.
Some major improvements are planned (Web interface) which will be free upgrades!
Nope, I didn't learn French this afternoon ;-) But read on if you are interested.
This beta has one new fix for the Upload task: renaming files on Microsoft FTP servers failed when the new file already existed.
For the download link, please see this forum post.
WatchDirectory has been partly translated into French! The user interface is still mostly English or German, depending on which language you select, but if you select French during install, all helpfiles and parts of the quick-help will now be in French.
Note that several links in the French helpfiles currently point to non-existent internet pages. Those missing pages will be created soon.
Jacob will provide French language support by email and on our new French forum.
Oh boy, we are never going to release this great program. Every single time I think we are ready to release, a new "perfect" idea comes up. Surely, we can not release without *this killer feature*.
Last beta - one or two weeks from now. Yes, there are hundreds of little (and big) ideas we can implement, they will have to wait until version 1.1 (which will be a free upgrade).
Lots!
We have concentrated on usability for this last (really!) beta. Make File Viking easier to use. The little things.... (do you know how much work goes into "easy"?)
Q&A
Here are a few tips if you have trouble running a WatchDirectory task as a Windows Service.
As a first step, please make sure the task works properly when you manually start it (Not as a Windows Service). Set How to Run to Manually. When you have the task working properly "Manually", read on.
If your task only works on "local directories" (typically C:\ or D:\), you can skip this. If your task accesses drives on other computers ("The Network"), read on.
The Windows Service created by WatchDirectory runs as the user "Local System". Notice the word "Local"? The task can not access any network resources. Only directories on the computer where this task runs are accessible. So if you have a task that reads (monitors) or writes to network directories, you need to change the user that runs this task to someone who has access to those directories, see Change the User (last paragraphs of this post).
P:\
Are you accessing Mapped Network Drives? Please note that drive mappings (typically something like P:\ or X:\) are set by Windows based on the logged in user. Also, depending on the Windows version, those mappings are not available to Services even if you Change the User of the Service. Always use UNC naming for network drives (\\Server\Sharename\Directory instead of P:\Directory).
When you share a directory on the network, older Windows versions by default gave Full Control (read, write, delete...) to anyone who is allowed to access the share. Current Windows releases default to read-only access. If your task needs to write to a network share, please check if the User running the task has proper privileges.
All the network issues above also apply to bat/cmd files you write. Please access network drives using their UNC name (\\server\share\directory\file.txt).
PATH
Please note the Windows PATH, where Windows can find executables to run, depends on the logged in user (the user that "runs" the WD task).
If your script depends on programs that should be on your PATH, you may need to change the PATH in your bat script:
SET PATH=C:\My Binaries;%PATH%
Use Full Paths for files
If you currently have commands like
DoIt.exe "%WD_FILE%"
in your script, assuming DoIt.exe is in the current directory or your PATH, please change it to
"C:\Program Files\Do It Incorporated\DoIt.exe" "%WD_FILE%"
Note: %WD_FILE% contains the full path to the detected file, see Environment Variables.
Do not depend on the Working Directory
You should consider the "Current" (or "Working") directory to be RANDOM when your script is started. So, if you need a specific working directory, your script should set it itself.
Just like mapped drives, printers are maintained by Windows separately for each user account. Please see the last paragraph of this blogpost: Printing from a Windows Service.
Currently you can not change the user that runs the Windows Service inside the WatchDirectory Control Center. You must change it on the Windows Control Panel Applet "Windows Services":
A future WatchDirectory version will make changing this user/password easier, from inside the WD Control Center.
Perhaps it is a good idea to create a new (domain) user called WatchDirectory specifically for your WD tasks. One important aspect of this user is to let its password "never expire". If you set it up so the password does expire, you will need to change the password for all WatchDirectory tasks every month...
For more info, see this English or this German post.
Did YOU donate for little Andrej? A few Euro, dollars, pounds... It can really Help!
Some of my customers really surprise me, in a GOOD way.
I emailed one of my favorite customers, Lori:
"Hello Lori, I know you are a good person. Please see http://watchdirftp.blogspot.com/2010/02/do-you-want-to-help-little-boy-with.html and http://www.datalandsoftware.com/blog/2010/02/28/please-help-little-andrew-and-get-a-free-license/"
I should have a couple of checks in by tomorrow or Saturday. I'll make sure and donate then. More than that though, I will add Andrej to my prayer list. My 9-year-old daughter and I have a prayer list every night. If you could hear her pray, it would warm your heart. Please know she and I will pray for Andrej.
A few days later she donated $100.
Another customer donated $40 and ordered 2 extra licenses without any discount, asking for the promised discount to go to Andrej.
(Thank you Charles).
Good people do exist in this world!
Yes, there are a lot of you who donated who I did not mention. THANKS!
For more info, see this English or this German post.
Did YOU donate for little Andrej?
We are getting closer to the last beta-release of File Viking. This new beta will be released somewhere this or next week. ~1 month after that, version 1.0 is expected.
Among other things (lots and lots of small fixes, tons of little usability improvements), we added a few new Actions ("Uncompress" and "Upload to FTP").
If you want to join this last round of beta testing and receive a free license in exchange for your comments, let me know: support @ FileViking . com.
This new release is a free upgrade for all "version 4.x customers", just install the current evaluation version "on top" of your current install. That way you will keep your settings and tasks.
In 2004 Holland Combinatie (Dutch) decided to take production to a new level by implementing a complete new production system. This production system was based on different modules with some integration, but not optimal.
Therefore it was necessary that connection where made through all kind of different scripts, bat-files etc. It was quite a mess to controlling this stuff.
A search on the Internet showed the solution for this all: WatchDirectory. All our scripts, bat-file, copy and renaming moves are now been taking care of through WD.
The system has never been so stable on all mentioned actions since the migration to WD. Support by the developers is great. You just have to send an email or post on the forum and any issue is taken care of almost immediately.
The only problem with WD (if you can speak of a problem anyway) is that WD is so flexible and multitasking that I have to keep a low profile on making up jobs which can be dealt by WD ;-)
I can put in into one slogan:
WatchDirectory... it rocks!
D. Hoogenboom
Informatiemanager Grafisch/Technische Systemen
Holland Combinatie BV
The Netherlands
Q&A
When we receive multiple requests from customers, in a short period of time, asking for a solution to the same issue, it is time to write a blogpost about it.
The question asked was
I want WatchDirectory to detect new Batch Scripts, *.cmd or *.bat, in a directory and automatically run them. I tried the Automatically Run Bat Files task, but it wants me to enter the name of the bat file to run. How can I do this?
The answer:
Yes, you need the "Run Bat Files" task, you just need to create a "static" batch file that will run the newly detected bat or cmd file. A simple RunTheNewScript.bat like this will do:
@echo off rem the variable %WD_FILE% has the complete path to the newly detected script Call "%WD_FILE%" rem delete the script after it has run? Remove the "REM" on the next line REM DEL "%WD_FILE%"
It is probably best to also Setup a Filter so this new task will only run when it detects a CMD or BAT file, see the picture below.
This is a low cost alternative to products such as Camellia Batch Job Server. Obviously, as a specialized program, Camellia BJS offers more/other functionality, but if all you need is to run dynamically created batch scripts automatically, you can do it with WatchDirectory.
My friend Vladimir is looking for help. The 5 year old son, little Andrej, of a close friend needs a very expensive operation to hopefully cure his brain cancer.
On his blog, Vladimir has the complete story about little Andrej and also a great offer: donate to Andrej's parents and get a free license of his software! Personally, I use Agenda At Once and Web Log Storming - Great Software!
But obviously, this is not about getting free software, it is about helping a little boy. If you have a few euros or dollars to spare, even the smallest amounts help!
Little Andrej's parents still need about €40,000.- (~$55,000 USD).
If you PayPal me on my personal account (gertrijs@planet.nl) any amount you wish, I will double the amount you send (up to the discount amount) and transfer it to Andrej's parents. In return you receive a 25% discount on our programs. Any amount is OK, but please be generous.
This offer is valid until the end of March April 2010.
Gert
He is in the hospital now,
He and his parents still need help!
His parents sold their house to get Andrej to a hospital. When he returns, he needs medicines...
Some of my customers really surprise me, in a GOOD way.
I emailed one of my favorite customers, Lori:
"Hello Lori, I know you are a good person. Please see http://watchdirftp.blogspot.com/2010/02/do-you-want-to-help-little-boy-with.html and http://www.datalandsoftware.com/blog/2010/02/28/please-help-little-andrew-and-get-a-free-license/"
I should have a couple of checks in by tomorrow or Saturday. I'll make sure and donate then. More than that though, I will add Andrej to my prayer list. My 9-year-old daughter and I have a prayer list every night. If you could hear her pray, it would warm your heart. Please know she and I will pray for Andrej.
A few days later she donated $100.
Another customer donated $40 and ordered 2 extra licenses without any discount, asking for the promised discount to go to Andrej.
(Thank you Charles).
Good people do exist in this world!
Yes, there are a lot of you who donated who I did not mention. THANKS!
Please note: the new task mentioned in this blog is now part of the just released version 4.6.2 of WatchDirectory.
WatchDirectory already has a task called Automatically Print PDF files. That task uses Acrobat Reader in the background to print the PDF.
We found a way to use the fantastic free Foxit Reader to print PDF's. Foxit Reader proves to be much faster and, more important, more reliable than Acrobat Reader.
This new "Print PDF" plugin will be included in the next release of WatchDirectory.
When you use this new task, you must tell it where Foxit Reader is installed and on which printer it should print the PDF's. This is the printer name as it shows on the Windows Control Panel printers applet. No typo's allowed.
Please note that Windows maintains the list of printers separately for each login account. When you configure a "Print PDF" task to run as a Windows Service (on the How to Run panel), the task will run as user "LocalSystem". LocalSystem most likely doesn't have your printers installed so you must tell Windows to run this Service as another user (as "You").
Download the current version from the download page and install it "on top" of your current install. No need to uninstall your older (version 4) release first.
Like all 4.x releases, this is a free upgrade for our customers. If you own a WatchDirectory version 4 license, you can upgrade to the current release at no cost.
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